List of French Argentines


French Argentines are Argentines of full or partial French descent, or French-born people who reside in Argentina. Most of French immigrants settled in Argentina from the 1870s until WW1, though consistent immigration started in the 1820s and continued until the late 1940s. Half of these immigrants came from Southwestern France, especially from the Basque Country and Béarn, as well as Bigorre and Rouergue, but also from Savoy and the Paris region. As early as in the 1840s, Argentina also received immigrants with French background from neighboring countries, notably Uruguay. In 2006, it was estimated that around 8 million Argentines had some degree of French ancestry.

Business

  • , CEO of Ledesma, with distant French ancestry through his maternal great-grandparents
  • Alfredo Fortabat, founder of Loma Negra, born to French parents
  • , landowner and entrepreneur, born to French father
  • , French-born industrialist and inventor
  • Federico Lacroze, businessman who created the first railway system in Argentina, born to French father
  • María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, businesswoman and art collector, with distant French ancestry through her paternal great-grandfather
  • , entrepreneur and philanthropist, daughter of Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, with remote French ancestry through both lines of her family
  • Anacarsis Lanús, entrepreneur considered one of the wealthiest men in Argentina in the 1850s, born to French father
  • Juan Carlos Lectoure, owner of Luna Park arena
  • Guy Comte Maingard, Aristocrat French-born Businessman married to Delia Alvarez de Toledo. The Maingard family was among the two hundred founding families and original shareholders of the Banque de France.
  • Pedro Mosoteguy, Owner and founder of the Bagley company and the San Martín del Tabacal agro-industrial complex. Considered one of the wealthiest men in Argentina in the 1900s
  • Pierre Noyer Monmayou, Landowner and financier, with familial ties to the Mosoteguy family. Founder of Fabre Montmayou, a renowned Argentine winery.
  • , businessman who created the first hunting reserve in Argentina, born to French parents
  • , French-born businessman

Education

  • , professor and researcher
  • , engineer and professor
  • , lawyer and professor, with distant French ancestry through both lines of his family
  • José Manuel Estrada, professor and thinker, with French ancestry through his maternal grandparents
  • Amédée Jacques, French-born pedagogue and philosopher
  • , economist and professor, with French ancestry through his paternal grandfather
  • Ernesto Laclau, political theorist
  • , engineer who founded the first Industrial School in Argentina
  • , philosopher and professor
  • , French-born jurist and professor
  • , professor
  • Jacques de Mahieu, French-born anthropologist and professor, Nazi collaborator in Vichy France who fled to Argentina through the ratlines
  • , professor and dean of the Journalism Faculty of the National University of La Plata, Deputy of Buenos Aires Province since 2017
  • , professor of cinema and philosophy
  • , lawyer and professor

Entertainment

Actors

Musicians

Other entertainers

Explorers and pioneers

Journalism

  • Ana Baron, journalist, with French ancestry through her paternal grandparents
  • , journalist
  • , journalist
  • , journalist and research scientist
  • , journalist and theater critic
  • Gabriela Laperrière de Coni, French-born journalist and public health activist
  • , journalist
  • Charles Lescat, far-right newspaper editor and journalist, Nazi collaborator under German-occupied France, born to French parents
  • , journalist
  • Susana Viau, journalist and political columnist

Laws and politics

Activists

Deputies and senators

  • , Deputy and interim Governor of Catamarca, with French ancestry through his paternal grandfather
  • Uladislao Augier, Deputy of Catamarca, with French ancestry through his paternal grandfather
  • , Deputy of Buenos Aires, member of the Argentine Industrial Union, born to French parents
  • Enzo Bordabehere, Senator of Santa Fe
  • Pedro Braillard Poccard, Senator of Corrientes since 2015
  • Juan Fernando Brügge, Deputy of Córdoba since 2015, with French ancestry through his mother's line
  • Juan Cabandié, Deputy of Buenos Aires since 2013 and human rights activist
  • , Senator of Buenos Aires, born to French father
  • Albor Cantard, Deputy of Santa Fe since 2017
  • Alberto María Fonrouge, Senator of Buenos Aires Province, with distant French ancestry through his paternal great-grandfather
  • , Senator of Mendoza from 1986 to 2001
  • , Deputy of Buenos Aires from 1896 to 1906
  • , Deputy in the Mercosur Parliament for Argentina since 2016, Deputy of Buenos Aires
  • , Senator, Governor and Deputy of Corrientes, with distant French ancestry through his paternal French Brazilian great-grandfather
  • , Deputy of Buenos Aires since 2017
  • Rodolfo Tailhade, Deputy of Buenos Aires since 2015
  • Gerónimo Vargas Aignasse, Deputy of Tucumán from 2003 to 2011
  • Guillermo Vargas Aignasse, Senator of Tucumán from 1973 until his disappearance in 1976

Diplomats

  • , diplomat, with French ancestry through his paternal grandfather
  • , diplomat, with French ancestry through his paternal grandfather
  • Roberto Levillier, diplomat

Military junta

  • , de facto Federal Interventor of Misiones from 1959 to 1962
  • , de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship, born to French parents
  • , de facto Interventor of Buenos Aires from 1955 to 1958
  • , de facto Minister of Defense, with French ancestry through his maternal grandparents
  • Carlos Chasseing, de facto Federal Interventor of Córdoba from 1976 to 1979
  • , de facto Judge of the Supreme Court, with distant French ancestry through his paternal great-grandparents
  • , de facto Minister of Justice
  • , de facto Minister of Justice, with French ancestry through his paternal grandfather
  • , de facto Federal Interventor of Misiones from June to October 1962
  • Raúl Lacabanne, de facto Federal Interventor of Córdoba from 1974 to 1975
  • Carlos Lacoste, interim de facto President of Argentina from 11 to 21 December 1981
  • Alejandro Agustín Lanusse, de facto President from 1971 to 1973, with distant French ancestry through his paternal great-grandfather
  • , de facto Minister of Defense, with distant French ancestry through his paternal great-grandfather
  • , de facto Minister of Defense, de facto Minister of Agriculture, with distant French ancestry through his paternal great-grandfather
  • , de facto Minister of Education
  • , de facto Minister of Justice
  • Alfredo Saint-Jean, interim de facto President of Argentina from 18 June to 1 July 1982
  • , de facto Governor of Buenos Aires from 1976 to 1981
  • Lorenzo Sigaut, de facto Minister of Economy

Ministers

  • , Minister of Navy under Hipólito Yrigoyen, President of the National Bank from 1921 to 1924, born to French mother
  • , Minister of Economy under Julio Argentino Roca, born to French parents
  • Onofre Betbeder, twice Minister of Navy under Julio Argentino Roca and José Figueroa Alcorta, born to French father
  • Amado Boudou, Minister of Economy and Vice President under Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison, in one of the most notorious corruption cases during the Kirchner presidency, with French ancestry through his paternal grandfather
  • Patricia Bullrich, Minister of Security under Mauricio Macri since 2015, with remote French ancestry through her maternal great-great-grandparents
  • , Minister of Agriculture under Agustín P. Justo, born to French parents
  • , Minister of Public Services under Juan Perón
  • , Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship under Arturo Frondizi
  • , Minister of Agriculture under Mauricio Macri since 2017, with remote French ancestry through his paternal great-great-great-grandfather
  • Jorge Faurie, Minister of Foreign Affairs under Mauricio Macri since 2017
  • , Minister of Justice and Public Instruction under Juan Domingo Perón
  • , Minister of Agriculture under Marcelo T. de Alvear
  • Martín Lousteau, Minister of Economy under Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
  • , Minister of Public Works under Roque Sáenz Peña, with French ancestry through his maternal grandfather
  • Honorio Pueyrredón, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship under Hipólito Yrigoyen, with distant French ancestry through his paternal great-grandfather
  • , Minister of Finance under Hipólito Yrigoyen, born to French father
  • Juan Vital Sourrouille, Minister of Economy under Raúl Alfonsín, with French ancestry through his paternal grandparents

Presidents

  • Carlos Pellegrini, President of Argentina from 1890 to 1892, born to French father
  • Juan Perón, twice President of Argentina from 1946 to 1955, and from 1973 to 1974, with French ancestry through his French Uruguayan paternal grandmother
  • Roque Sáenz Peña, President of Argentina from 1910 to 1914, with French ancestry through his French Uruguayan maternal grandfather
  • Hipólito Yrigoyen, twice President of Argentina from 1916 to 1922, and from 1928 to 1930, born to French father

Provincial representatives

  • , Governor of San Luis from 1917 to 1921, born to French father
  • , Governor of Chaco from 1929 to 1930
  • Gustavo Bordet, Governor of Entre Ríos since 2015
  • , Governor of Neuquén from 1903 to 1906
  • , Governor of Santa Cruz from 1949 to 1952, with French ancestry through his paternal grandmother
  • , provisional Governor of Jujuy in 1879, born to French father
  • , Deputy then Governor of Corrientes
  • José Camilo Crotto, Governor of Buenos Aires from 1918 to 1921, born to French mother
  • , Governor of San Luis from 1913 to 1917, son of Mauricio Daract, with French ancestry through his paternal grandfather
  • Justo Daract, six times Governor of San Luis between 1854 and 1867, born to French father
  • , twice Governor of San Luis between 1852 and 1854, born to French father
  • , twice Governor of Salta from 1952 to 1955, and from 1963 to 1966
  • , Governor of Entre Ríos from 1931 to 1935, with French ancestry through his paternal grandfather
  • , Governor of San Luis from 1922 to 1926, born to French parents
  • , Governor of Chaco from 1911 to 1914, with French ancestry through his paternal grandfather
  • , Governor of Misiones from 1896 to 1905, born to French father
  • Mario Moine, Governor of Entre Ríos from 1991 to 1995
  • , Governor of La Pampa from 1949 to 1951
  • , Governor of Tucumán from 1932 to 1934, with distant French ancestry through his paternal great-grandfather
  • , Governor of Tucumán from 1906 to 1909, with French ancestry through his paternal grandfather
  • , Governor and Senator of Tucumán, born to French father
  • Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, Chief of Government of Buenos Aires since 2015, with remote French ancestry on his father's side
  • , Governor of Tucumán from 1928 to 1930, born to French parents
  • Carlos Sylvestre Begnis, twice Governor of Santa Fe from 1958 to 1962, and from 1973 to 1976
  • Arístides Villanueva, Governor of Mendoza from 1870 to 1873, with remote French ancestry through his maternal great-great-grandfather

Public figures

  • María Lorenza Barreneche, First Lady of Argentina from 1983 to 1989, with distant French ancestry through her maternal great-grandfather
  • , First Lady of Argentina from 1963 to 1966, with distant French ancestry through her paternal great-grandfather
  • Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, queen consort of the Netherlands, with remote French ancestry through her maternal great-great-grandparents
  • Pilar Nores de García, twice First Lady of Peru from 1985 to 1990, and from 2006 to 2011, with distant French ancestry through her maternal great-grandparents
  • Eva Perón, First Lady of Argentina from 1946 to 1952, with French ancestry through her paternal grandparents

Other politicians

Literature

Military

Religion

Science

Sports

Auto racing

Field hockey

Football

Handball

Rugby

Swimming

Tennis

Other sports

Visual arts

Architects

  • Pedro Benoit, architect, born to French father
  • , French-born architect
  • , French-born architect and engineer
  • , French-born architect who designed the Palacio Duhau
  • , French-born architect and painter
  • , architect
  • , architect and designer
  • Eduardo Le Monnier, French-born architect
  • , architect, born to French parents
  • Patricio Pouchulu, architect

Comic book artists

Painters

Other visual artists

Other